Post driver and puller



June 14, 1960 GF. sHAvER Pos'r DRIVER AND FULLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 27. 1955 June 14, 1960 G. F. sHAvER Pos'r DRIVER AND FULLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 27. 1953 ,Savant-'oit'. @Tann lf-,S hmm June 14, 1960 G. F. sHAvER PosT DRIVER AND FULLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 27. 1953 Witness United States Patent O POST DRIVER AND PULLER Glenn F. Shaver, Graettnger, Iowa Filed Apr. 27, 1953, Ser. No. 351,222

11 Claims. (Cl. 6173) vMy invention relates to improvements in post drivers and has for one of its important objects the providing of a post driver that may also be adapted to post pulling.

Another object of this invention is to provide-my nvention with means adaptable to a tractor for using the same as a load lifting mechanism.

A further important object of my invention is to provide a post driver that utilizes the force of a percussion driving block for driving the post and which has a pulling or lifting force provided by the use of a hydraulic piston and cylinder. ln this respect the lifting force is also utilized in raising the driving block to its position of by the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, and specically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of my invention shown mounted on a tractor,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section view of this invention taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the adjusting means on thsinvention and a cross sectional view of my driving assembly taken from the vline 3-3 of Fig. 2,

i Fig. 4 is a front view of this device partly broken away to more fully illustrate its construction,

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section viewtaken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of the bottom of my driving mechanism to illustrate the position of a pulling claw or hook, l

Fig. 7 is a modified form of a hydraulic piston arrangement shown in a longitudinal sectional view. l

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of the top of this invention to illustrate my locking means for providing a selective means of varying the hydraulic lifting force, g Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation at 12 to illustrate a preferred means of mounting my in vention although it will be understood that the vsaine may be placed on a trailer or on any other suitable place.

A pair of spaced mounting brackets 14 and 16 are se- '2,940,267 Patented June 14, 196.0

ice

base plate 20 which has the rear upstanding ange 22. On base plate 20 in vspaced relationship from rear to 'ont are the respective bearing members 24 and 26 with member 24 abutting the ange 22 and member 26 being disposed at the forward edge of plate 20. Rotatably journalled in the members 24 and 26 is a support tube 28 that protrudes forwardly of member 26 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A relatively short carrier mounting channel member 30 is vertically positioned so that its bottom portion embraces the forward end of tuber28 and is secured thereto by means of a pin or bolt 32 (Fig. 4) that extends transversely through tube 28 at its forward end porton. Thus arranged, it will be appreciated that channel 30 will tilt sideways when tube l28 is rotated, and also that this channel will tilt forwardly and rearwardly on pin 32 independently of the rotation of tube 28.

At the top of channel 30 a pin 34 is pivotally disposed transversely of the channel sides and carries a rearwardly extending socket 36 that is internally threaded, A leveling crank 38 suitably mounted in a support 40 on tube 28 has an externally threaded shank 42 which engages socket 36 so that the rotation of crank 3:8v in different directions at times will tilt channel 30 rearwardly and forwardly respectively and in this respect it is pointed out that the point of support between crank 38 and plate 40 has sufficient play so that crank 38 can vmove in other than a direction parallel to tube 28. However, a pivotal or other suitable connection at this point may be employed to accomplish the rearward and forward tilt of the carrier channel Without departing from lthe principle of this invention. A second leveling crank 44 mounted in a -support 46 on base plate 20 has external threads 48 for engagement with complementary threads in a support 50 secured to tube 28 and is so arranged that cranks 38 and 44 are perpendicular to each other. Thus, rotation of crank 44 -will rotate tube 28`to provide a lateral tilt to channel 30.

A carrier channel member 52, which is longer than the carrier mounting channel 30 is secured as by welding or the like thereto, back to back so as to extend both upwardly and downwardly vtherefrom as appears in Fig. 2. On the outer channel sides of member 52 I provide a pluraiity of carrier rollers 54 in vertical spaced relationship vand at the bottom of channel 52 is the support plate S6. A hammer member 58 in the form of an elongated H beam is provided on the inner side of web 59 with slide rails 60Y along one side (Fig. 3) whereby there is formed between each rail 60 and the web 59 of the H beam, the oppositely disposed tracks 62 and with a portion of side of the web 59 serving as a rail complementary to the rails 60. Thus arranged, the hammer 58 is ver. tically slidably mounted on the carrier channel 52 so that rails 60 and the web 59 of the H beam form a pair of rails at each side for riding over rollers 54. Near the top of hammer 53 and on the outer side of web 59l is a driving block 64 rigidly secured between and laterally protruding from the beam sides and near the bottom thereof on the outer side of the web and below block 64 I provide a removable vertically hingeable grappling claw or hook 65. The top of ibeam 58 carries an elevated lifting saddle 66 which may be of any suitable form and which I preferably illustrate as formed from a metal bar bent into the shape of `an inverted modied U.

' On carrier channel 52 above channel 30 is placed a bracket 68 on which is mounted an hydraulic controlde- -vice valve 70 operated by the lever 72 and connected by hose 73 to a source' of hydamlic pressure which in 'the drawings disclosed will be the tractor. Connected also to valve 70 is the cylinder or tube portion 74V which is disposed channel 52 and extends from valve VT72 downwardly. 4A second cylinder or tube'l6 is arranged "tin-channel `"52'adjacent menlzzer 74` is longer and and 76 are connected at the bottom by a U-tting 78, nsupported by Yplate 56, so that in effect they form one feontmuons conduit'fromvalvedll. V*In "tube 'i6 is placed la hydraulic piston fsu fthatjis slidale through a suitable eal 82 `and'with'its fffreeend 'connected tol the lifting jY-sadtusseas shown innige# fands.

'Thus constructed :and arranged, this invention will i jfrgrytaralyrwhicngreieaswthelhyafauliapressure. 'Asthis #release lsYestablished, 'hammer'SS' will dr'op/hyigravitys dead weiglt toanord-"a perenss'ioneofaet efthe'ufiv'ing Y'Splatejtliagamst the jtop ofltlre 'post [84. Hammer'lSS'fis Y"titeuf-elevated by "hydraulic pressure Y'as VVabove described andthe divingplate 64 dtermine the erghtof'thejpost abiovefthe ground that all 'posts'c'n for measuring. n ,Y Y.

T'ston 80,"1'nay Yb'ejrlatively jsmall diameter fsin'ce theweightroflthehammerljelires'no great vforce for lift- A"rrligand consequentlyrelativelylittle -id 'isused in creat- :mg-the'nece'ssary pressure; Afsa resul@ "s soon asfhylr'aulicpressur'efisreleasedQ'with the hanmer in elevated Y Y '11Y: os1t1cz n,Y VAiluiddtfroln cylinderfisfinifnedatly expelled A' Y throughhcmduit 74ans valve rot-and'cinersfnoappreeiable lresistance to thedropping of the hammer.'Y v K Y Thehydraulicpowerusedflfor elevating'the'hmmerlcan Iagainst head. 96.V Conseduently, thispressure will act -only IVon piston 92 which will -obviously move -Yunder va relatively small pressure. Howevenrif latch 98 is released, it will be appreciated that head 96 together with cylinder 9) and piston 92 is movable so that hydraulic pressure over the wider area of head 94 will substantially increase the force transmitted to the saddle 66.

It is submitted that the invention shown and described is aptly suitedto achieve the purposes intended and is characterizedby Ya combination of vhighly useful and mutually cooperating elements that combinetheir respective andproportionate Yfunctions in accomplishing the Y objects sough-t'ztobel obtained. Y f

Some changes .may beimadev-inthe construction and arrangement of my 'post 'driver and pullerY without departing from the real spiri-tand purpose ofy my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified yforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may Ybe reasonably included 'within their scope.

llclaim: .Y d. 5.1'. `A Tpo/st driverfcomprising, 'a vertically disposed carrier V'ehannel,-means for'supporting the same, roller l'members on each side of said carrier channel, auelongated H-beam, oppositely Ydisposed rails formed longitu- Ydina'lly'withi'n one'side ofsaidHbeam, a'driving block f'se'cured to tlieYother'side 'of said'H-beam, saidY H-beam mounted on s aidrcarrier channel so `saidrails are Yvertically no'v'able over said roller members, Ya VVertic'zally ln'fovabl'e hydraulic piston assembly disposed in said' car- '-rier channel, theupperfend ofthefpistonlin said assembly connected to the upper end of said hammer, 'a'hydraulic valve 'means connected vto said .-piston.assernbly and designed V"to 'connect to a source'of`lhydraulic2pressre,lsaid `hammer movable upwardly bysai'd piston assembly under hydraulic pressure and when said hydraulic pressure is -released,"said .piston assembly .movable downwardly by said hammer as said hammer drops byYigravityas ia idead uweight 'to fdeliv'era vpercussioncontact to afencefpost or lthe like. Y Y

v2.1Yz4't'lpos't driver, comprising, a venticallydisposed f'carrier :channelylmeans for supporting'the same, roller Y-r'nexnbers on' each 'side vof said 'carrier channel, an Felon- 'jdescrib'edso'asto 'frictionallyfg'rip the post a'siillustrated im Llfrg. In .respectjit willbe lappreciated that the "srmallerith'e diameter fof pistnfs, "the lesshydraulic .pres- 'isure will be vrequired to raisehafnnie1- i587V and consequent:

jthe'irnaxtnum pond'sjnrefslsreof a smalljistonY:hayv t V n.. A Y I H l eposts. Therefore, I haveshown ja modidedfstructuefor iner'eas/inghe, hyara-111m pressure setlist thisfinvenfienv'can be lfull'y utilized Y 1' alsofor'pulling posts Vor, as arliftir'ig mechanism illustratedk Y Y Referring now to Figs. V7,8V and 9,' I`have mounted 55 Y-in Figs. 1o Y:md `11 respectivelywithin 'carrier channel 52,'the cylinder .'86 connected at t11e1bottom'rtoV aihose'rSS which `inturn connects to valve '70., IConcentri'cally, slidably arranged within cylinder l86 1 Y the "cylinder 90 which eXtends'upwadly 'through the l:top 'thereof and inwhich disposed the hydraulic piston '2 2 that `connects tothe'lifting saddle 66 the same as piston lFig. 44. fA seal 94 is .provided Yat thetp ofcylider i90 and jase'al and cylinder head Y96is formed around the bottom of cylinder '90 s oas tofbe slidable within 'cylinder "86. "Cn top of 'cylinder586is a manuallyoperatedl latch Yfor hook '98.jadapted to hold seal 94 against upward move! `ment,` sbutjrwhich can be moved out fren'ga'geme'nt ltheref'withlas-Aindicated by thepdetfedY lines inY Fig. 7 and in the Y Y .diagrammatic `sketch fgjFig. 19. The effect jof this.' 'ar-f with iatchjssengaging M194 aslshowa m Fig.- s, lcylin- YUli ' gated H-beam, oppositely disposed rails formed longitudinally 'withinr one side l of said 'Hlbe'am, aV drivingblock secured tov the Y'other side-'of saiciHlbeam, vsaid H=beam tically movable over Ysaid roller' members, two cylinders (-'disp'o'sed vertically and .adjacent each otheriinfsaidcar'rier vchannel, YVa hydraulic Valveconne'c'ted t'oione of said cylinders, said valve designed 'to "connect to fa sourceiof Yhy- "fdrulic' pressuresaid cylinders connected at 'the -bdttom by a U-tting, alYhydraulicpiston-Yinytheothercylinder, V saidpis'ton having-its upper end Aconnected to thegupperv portion of said H-beam,fsaid H-beammoyaljleupvvardly by said piston-'assembly vunder hydrauhcpressure Vand whenV said hydraulic Ypressure is released, said. H-beam dropping by gravity asa dead weightwherebyfsaid'driving block can deliver a percussion Contact to afencefpost orthelike. Y, Y V

Y3; -A post driver, comprising, a carrier channeL'jmeans for supportingfth'e YHsanfte, Ya Yhammer vertically shdably mounted on said carrier channehadrivingbloclr. on's 1d hammer, a iirst hydraulic cylinder Verticallydis'posed 1n said carrier channel, -'a hydraulio'controlvalve connected at one Iend tothebottoni of saidc'ylinder and `designedfto (Y connectat-its other Yendtofa f source of pressure, aV second hydraulic cylinder smaller Yin dlameter than the jrnge'menfjis to' utilize o'nlyfaA hydraulic pres# i) Vvsure when vthis invention Y'is 'used only 'for post driving, but

:Tomakeavailable additional pressure for postipulling'or `load lifting and such result Yis 'accomplished as' follows,

/rst and concentrically arrangedlwithinfithe irstsofasto Yv'protrude'firom the Vtop of the first Yand be vertically sl1d- :table therein, -acylinder seal-Yat the top oftheY smaller Yfcyli'nden Yfa hydraulic piston disposed :in'thesmallercylmder and-having'itsupper endconnectedzto the upper ,end

said'hammer, a cylinder Yheadfornied aroundithe; bQtfrom ofthe-smaller cyliderfsseaifonsaidfcyiinde;head "-Y'e'ng'ging rfthe walls of the'rlar'ger,lcylinderrahook on iop acecho? f the larger cylinder removably engageable with the seal on the smaller cylinder whereby when said hook is engaged and hydraulic pressure is applied, said smaller cylinder cannot move and only a relatively small force from the hydraulic pressure is required to move said hydraulic piston, and when said hook is disengaged by the hydraulic piston, said small cylinder and cylinder heads are movable by the increased force due to the greater area acted upon bythe hydraulic pressure, the movement of said hydraulic piston moving said hammer upwardly, when said hydraulic pressure is released, said hammer dropping by gravity as a dead weight whereby said driving block can deliver a percussion contact to a fence post or the like.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 characterized by a rappling claw detachably hingedly secured to the bottom of said hammer for use at times in gripping and pulling a post when said hammer is being elevated, with said hydraulic pressure adjustable as described for increasing the pulling or lifting force when required.

5. A post driver, comprising, a carrier channel, means for supporting the same, a hammer vertically slidably mounted on said carrier channel, a driving block on said hammer, a vertically movable hydraulic piston assembly disposed in said carrier channel, the upper end of the piston in said assembly secured -to the upper end of said hammer and vertically movable therewith both upwardly and downwardly, a hydraulic valve means designed to connect to a source of hydraulic pressure, a single uid conduit connecting said hydraulic valve and said piston assembly, said hammer upwardly by the extension of said piston from said piston assembly under hydraulic pressure and when said hydraulic pressure is released, said hammer dropping by gravity as a dead weight whereby said driving block can deliver a percussion contact to a fence post or the like, and the downvy'ard movement of said hammer moving said piston therewith to a retracted position in said piston assembly during which operation tluid in said piston assembly used for hydraulic pressure is dispelled from said piston assembly through said conduit and said valve means to the source of uid supply.

6. A post driver, comprising, a carrier channel, means for supporting the saine, a hammer vertically slidably mounted on said carrier channel, a driving block on said hammer, a vertically movable hydraulic piston assembly disposed in said carrier channel, the upper end of the piston in said assembly secured to the upper end of said hammer and vertically movable therewith both upwardly and downwardly, a hydraulic valve means connected to said piston assembly and designed to connect to a source of hydraulic pressure, said hammer movable upwardly by the extension of said piston from said piston assembly under hydraulic pressure and when said hydraulic pressure is released, said hammer dropping by gravity as a dead weight whereby said driving block can deliver a percussion contact to a fence post or the like, the downward movement of said hammer moving said piston therewith to a retracted position in said piston assembly during which operation iluid in said piston assembly used for hydraulic pressure is dispelled from said piston assembly through said valve means to the source of fluid supply, and means associated with said carrier channel for tilting it forwardly, rearwardly and laterally respectively.

7. A post driver, comprising, a support member, a hammer mounted thereon for vertical reciprocation, a driving block on said hammer, a vertically disposed hydraulic cylinder on said support member, a vertically reciprocating piston in said cylinder, the upper end of said piston connected to said hammer so as to vertically reciprocate therewith, a hydraulic valve means designed to Aconnect with ailow line to a source of hydraulic pressure, a single conduit connecting said valve means with the bottom of said cylinder, said hammer movable upwardly by the extension of said piston under hydraulic pressure on the bottom thereof applied through said conduit, said hammer dropping by gravity as a dead weight when said hydraulic pressure is released, and the downward movement of said hammer moving said piston therewith to expel uid in said cylinder through said conduit and said valve means directly into the flow line of the source of hydraulic pressure.

A post driver, comprising a carrier channel, means for supporting `the same, roller members on each side of said carrier channel, an elongated H-beam, oppositely disposed rails formed longitudinally within one side of said H-beam, a driving block secured to the other side of said ifi-beam, said H-beam mounted on said carrier channel so said rails are vertically movable over said roller members, a vertically movable hydraulic piston assembly disposed in said carrier channel, the upper end of the piston in said assembly connected to the upper end of said H-beam, a hydraulic valve means designed to connect to a source of hydraulic pressure, a conduit connected at respective ends to said piston assembly and said valve means, said H-beam movable upwardly by said piston assembly under hydraulic pressure through said conduit, said H-Jeam dropping by gravity as' a dead weight when said pressure is released, and said piston moving downwardly with said H-beam to expel fluid from said piston assembly through said conduit and Said valve means.

9. A device as deiined in claim 8 characterized by a grappling claw detachabiy hingedly secured to the bottom or' said i-l-beam for use at times in gripping and pulling a post when said hammer is beingelevated.

l0. A device as delined in claim 8 including means associated with said carrier channel for tilting it forwardly, rearwardly and laterally respectively.

11. A post driver, comprising, a support member, a hammer mounted thereon for vertical reciprocat-ion, a driving block on said hammer, a vertically disposed hydraulic cylinder on said support member, a vertically reciprocating piston in said cylinder, one end of said piston connected to said hammer so as to vertically reciprocate therewith, a hydraulic valve means designed t0 connect with a flow line to a source of hydraulic pressure, a single conduit connecting said valve means with said cylinder, said hammer movable upwardly by said piston under hydraulic pressure applied through said conduit, said hammer dropping by gravity as a dead weight when said hydraulic pressure is released, and the downward movement of said hammer moving said piston therewith to expel fluid in said cylinder through said conduit and said valve means directly into the dow line of the source of hydraulic pressure.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 258,954 Tarbell et al lune 6, 1882 1,957,999 Goldsborough et al. May 8, 1934 2,335,172 Cornett Nov. 23, 1943 2,476,390 Simmonds July 19, 1949 2,487,530 Dirksen Nov. 8, 1949 2,550,325 Breed Apr. 24, 1951 2,659,583 Dorkins Nov. 17, 1953 2,659,584 Dorkins Nov. 17, 1953 2,681,789 Nichols June 22, 1954 2,689,104 Pfad Sept. 14, 1954 2,731,892 Simmonds lan. 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 696,970 Germany 1940 

